Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Morgan Tuck out for UConn

Injured UConn players Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, center left, and Morgan Tuck, center right, hope to be off the bench and helping their team on the court as soon as possible.
Fred Beckham — The Associated Press

STORRS >> If there is ever a time to be grateful that an All-American is injured and out indefinitely, and her replacement will likely miss 4-6 weeks, Wednesday was that time.

When junior forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis wailed in pain after crashing to the floor early in the second half of Monday’s win over Stanford, the immediate fear was that she could miss the rest of the season.

Late Tuesday night, Mosqueda-Lewis found out there was no major structural damage to her right elbow. However, she did suffer a nerve contusion, which will sideline her indefinitely.

Mosqueda-Lewis will miss the upcoming games against Maryland and Penn State and have the elbow reexamined next week, when there may be a more definitive time table of when UConn’s leading scorer in each of the last two seasons will be able to return.

“I am really happy that nothing too major happened,” Mosqueda-Lewis said. “It is just a contusion. It will heal with a little bit of rehab. I just want to know when I am going to be able to get out there with my team and help them out.”

Sophomore forward Morgan Tuck said she knew she would be undergoing surgery to fix loose cartilage in her right knee, even as she was scoring 11 points in 18 minutes on Monday. She underwent the surgery on Tuesday morning and is expected to be out at least a month.

“It didn’t really bother me while I was playing; it was the after and the before,” Tuck said. “I went all summer, all preseason and after maybe five or six practices was when it started to swell up.

“There was a little bit (of pain) and that is why they put me in a brace,” Tuck said. “Obviously that wasn’t (working) because I had to get the scope.”

Instead of Tuck filling in for Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn now just hopes to have both back to 100 percent by NCAA tournament time.

“I knew I was going to be out before Kaleena got hurt, so it wasn’t a shocker that I wasn’t going to be able to play,” Tuck said. “I wish I could be out there helping my team, I don’t know who wouldn’t want to, but with the injury I still think I am going to be pretty good.”

Mosqueda-Lewis is thrilled to say that she is going to be fine as well.

“I had about 56 texts after the game, people asking if I was OK, if everything was alright, how I felt,” Mosqueda-Lewis said. “I called people back, texted people back and said I will be fine. I will be back before the season is over, so no one needs to worry any more.

“It was good news. ... I think (not playing) is going to test my patience.”